Windows:2000
Windows 2000 was an operating system made by Microsoft. It Replaces Windows NT 4 and was replaced by Windows XP. This was the last NT - based version before the unification of the Windows NT and DOS-based line. It reached general availability on 2000-02-13. The End of support was reached on 2010-07-13. Editions There are 4 major editions of Windows 2000. They are - Professional , Server , Advanced Server and Datacenter Server. Windows 2000 was intended mainly for use in businesses and Windows Me was more targeted at home users, however due to Windows Me's negative reception, many home users ended up buying Windows 2000. Informations about each edition borrowed from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Professional It is the client version of Windows 2000. It offers greater security and stability than many of the previous Windows desktop operating systems. It supports up to two processors, and can address up to 4 GB of RAM. The system requirements are a Pentium processor (or equivalent) of 133 MHz or greater, at least 32 MB of RAM, 650 MB of hard drive space, and a CD-ROM drive (recommended: Pentium II, 128 MB of RAM, 2 GB of hard drive space, and CD-ROM drive). Server It shares the same user interface with Windows 2000 Professional, but contains additional components for the computer to perform server roles and run infrastructure and application software. A significant new component introduced in the server versions is Active Directory, which is an enterprise-wide directory service based on LDAP. Additionally, Microsoft integrated Kerberos network authentication, replacing the often-criticised NTLM authentication system used in previous versions. This also provided a purely transitive-trust relationship between Windows 2000 domains in a forest (a collection of one or more Windows 2000 domains that share a common schema, configuration, and global catalog, being linked with two-way transitive trusts). Furthermore, Windows 2000 introduced a Domain Name Server which allows dynamic registration of IP addresses. Windows 2000 Server supports up to 4 processors, requires 128 MB of RAM and 1 GB hard disk space, however requirements may be higher depending on installed components. Advanced Server Also known as Enterprise Server. It is a variant of Windows 2000 Server operating system designed for medium-to-large businesses. It offers clustering infrastructure for high availability and scalability of applications and services, including main memory support of up to 8 gigabytes (GB) on Physical Address Extension (PAE) systems and the ability to do 8-way SMP. It supports TCP/IP load balancing and enhanced two-node server clusters based on the Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) in Windows NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition. Limited number of copies of an IA-64 version, called Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Limited Edition were made available via OEMs. System requirements are similar to those of Windows 2000 Server, however they may need to be higher to scale to larger infrastructure. Datacenter Server It is a variant of Windows 2000 Server designed for large businesses that move large quantities of confidential or sensitive data frequently via a central server. Like Advanced Server, it supports clustering, failover and load balancing. Its minimum system requirements are normal, but it was designed to be capable of handing advanced, fault-tolerant and scalable hardware—for instance computers with up to 32 CPUs and 64 GBs RAM, with rigorous system testing and qualification, hardware partitioning, coordinated maintenance and change control. Limited number of copies of an IA-64 version, called Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, Limited Edition were made available via OEMs. System requirements are similar to those of Windows 2000 Advanced Server, however they may need to be higher to scale to larger infrastructure. Service Packs There are 4 service packs of Windows 2000. Windows 2000 SP4 is the latest version. Microsoft had originally intended to release a fifth service pack for Windows 2000, but Microsoft cancelled this project early in its development, and instead released Update Rollup 1 for SP4, a collection of all the security-related hotfixes and some other significant issues.The Update Rollup does not include all non-security related hotfixes and is not subjected to the same extensive regression testing as a full service pack. Microsoft states that this update will meet customers' needs better than a whole new service pack, and will still help Windows 2000 customers secure their PCs, reduce support costs, and support existing computer hardware. Service Pack 1 Service Pack 1 has been released on 2000-09-15. Service Pack 2 Service Pack 2 has been released on 2001-05-16. Service Pack 3 Service Pack 3 has been released on 2002-09-29. Service Pack 4 Service Pack 4 has been released on 2003-06-26. Update Rollup 1 Update Rollup 1 for Service Pack 4 is a collection of hotfixes, mainly for the security-related issues. It is said to contain all the security-related hotfixes and some non-security updates released between SP4 and UR1 for SP4. This rollup has been released instead of Service Pack 5. http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Microsoft-Scraps-Plans-for-Windows-2000-SP5/ About Service Pack 5 Microsoft planned to release Service Pack 5, but it has been cancelled and Update Rollup for SP4 has been released instead. http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/Microsoft-Scraps-Plans-for-Windows-2000-SP5/ Leaking of source code On or shortly before 2004-02-12, "portions of the Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 source code were illegally made available on the Internet." The source of the leak remains unannounced. Microsoft issued the following statement: "Microsoft source code is both copyrighted and protected as a trade secret. As such, it is illegal to post it, make it available to others, download it or use it.Despite the warnings, the archive containing the leaked code spread widely on the file-sharing networks. On 2004-02-16, an exploit "allegedly discovered by an individual studying the leaked source code" for certain versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer was reported. Builds Post NT 4.0 RTM Pre-Beta Beta 1 Beta 2 Beta 3 RC1 RC2 RC3 RTM Service Pack 1 Beta Service Pack 1 Service Pack 2 Service Pack 3 Service Pack 4 Beta Service Pack 4 Update SP4 Mod Editions Professional Most NT 5.0 EUR Edition is the modded build as sequel Windows NT 5.0, the $OEM$ Folder has included from past, such as winfile.exe. Shutdown.exe has provided from Windows XP. Post-RTM